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North Korea on Saturday condemned a joint statement by South Korea and the European Union criticizing Pyongyang’s military cooperation with Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang labeled the declaration a hostile act and a direct violation of its sovereignty.
The statement had been adopted on Wednesday during South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to Brussels, where Seoul and EU officials denounced what they characterized as "illegal military cooperation" between North Korea and Russia.
North Korea on Saturday condemned a joint statement by South Korea and the European Union that criticized Pyongyang’s military cooperation with Russia during the war in Ukraine.
“We condemn support by third parties, in particular the DPRK, which enable Russia to sustain its war of aggression against Ukraine,” the joint statement said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry rejected the criticism and said cooperation with Moscow was an “exercise of sovereign rights.”
The ministry described the Seoul-EU statement as “a clear infringement on the sovereignty of our state and a grave hostile act,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
The Foreign Ministry repeated North Korea’s description of South Korea as its primary “enemy state.”
It also accused Seoul of serving U.S. strategic interests in Asia.
The ministry described South Korea as Washington’s “favorite dagger” in what it alleged was a plan to invade the Asian continent.
The language appeared to refer to comments made in May by Gen. Xavier Brunson, the senior U.S. military official in South Korea.
Brunson compared South Korea to “the dagger in the heart of Asia.”
North Korea and China have both criticized those remarks, saying they reflected a U.S. strategy aimed at containing Beijing.
North Korea has strengthened its alliance with Russia under leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim has sent troops and munitions to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang maintains that its cooperation with Russia falls within its sovereign rights and rejects international criticism of the relationship.
The latest response followed the South Korea-EU statement accusing North Korea of helping Russia sustain its military campaign.
Kim recently hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang.
Xi’s visit followed back-to-back meetings in Beijing with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin.
North Korea’s relationships with Russia and China have remained central to its regional diplomacy as tensions with South Korea, the U.S. and the EU continue.
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